Author
Name: Joris Hoekstra Organisation: Delft University of Technology, Netherlands Position: Associate professor |
Generation Rent in the Netherlands: Why so many Dutch Young People Now Live in the Private Rental Sector
‘Generation Rent’ refers to the disproportionate presence of young people in the private rental sector due to declining access to homeownership, a phenomenon that first emerged in the liberal housing systems of the United Kingdom and the United States. This study examines whether the concept is also relevant in more government-steered housing systems, such as that of the Netherlands. Drawing on data from the large-scale Dutch housing needs surveys (WoON), we find that while the Dutch system long resisted tendencies associated with Generation Rent, the past 15 years of neoliberal policies have significantly altered this trajectory. The outcome is growing inequality between the young adults who achieve homeownership, often through intergenerational support, and those who remain in the rental sector. To mitigate this divide, we propose revitalising the rental sector and introducing tenure-neutral housing policies.
Comparing Local Instead of National Housing Regimes? Towards International Comparative Housing Research 2.0.
This paper makes a plea for a new form of international comparative housing research, in which not countries (national housing regimes) but cities or regions (local housing regimes) are the unit of analysis. Why do we need such a new comparative research approach? How can a local housing regime be conceptualised? By answering these questions, the paper attempts to lay the conceptual foundation for international comparative housing research 2.0.
Reregulation and Residualization in Dutch Social Housing: A Critical Evaluation of New Policies
The Janus Face of Homeownership-Based Welfare
This paper reflects on the different faces of asset-based welfare from both a theoretical and an empirical perspective. It shows that asset-based welfare can be perceived as a lever for welfare state restructuring but also as an instrument for poverty eradication. In most countries, asset-based welfare policies focus on stimulating home-ownership. The general idea is that by becoming a homeowner, households build up equity that can be released for care and pension purposes in old age. However, there are signs that such policies increase inequality between homeowners (depending on the location of the dwelling and/or the period in which it was bought), but particularly so between homeowners and tenants. We therefore contend that home-ownership based welfare policies need a clear and fundamental specification of the role of the government: how to deal with housing market risks and how to prevent politically unacceptable levels of inequality and exclusion?
